


The Installment Plan

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Resistance (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, MayThe4th Treat, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-02-23 14:29:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23712982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: When Finn has to go on a special assignment, Poe assigns one of his best pilots to get him there.
Relationships: Finn/Kazuda Xiono
Comments: 16
Kudos: 22
Collections: May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Fanworks Exchange 2020





	The Installment Plan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucymonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucymonster/gifts).



The war was supposed to be over. They'd beaten the Final Order, or whatever the hell Palpatine had named his secret fleet. The old Emperor was back in his grave where he belonged. Finn tried not to think about how many people he used to know and serve with on either side who'd joined him. He wasn't going to pretend to be sorry Kylo Ren was among their number, though he did try not to act happy about it in front of Rey. She'd told them that Ren had turned in the end, and had come to help her fight Palpatine. There was something she wasn't telling anybody, some deep sorrow in her eyes Finn had no idea how to reach, and couldn't help with now that she and Chewie had taken the Falcon to Tatooine for a short visit.

"I have to lay them to rest," she'd said, and Finn had nodded as though he understood and not as though he had already extracted a promise from Chewie to make sure she came back.

The war was over, and the dead were gone, so why was Poe still walking around the base like he was expecting an attack? He'd met with many of the ship captains and squad leaders who'd come to their aid. Finn had sat in on one or two of the discussions, but most left him confused.

He took Poe's arm after one meeting. "Got a minute, General?"

Poe's face relaxed into a friendly smile. "Any time, General."

Finn watched as the others filed out, including the guy who'd broken up the meeting by accidentally tripping over a storage crate, running headfirst into a tent pole, and nearly bringing down the tent on all their heads before they managed to right it again. Everyone had laughed except Finn, who'd been too busy being glad it hadn't been him this time.

"That's the second meeting today where you've talked about territory."

"Fourth," said Poe, the friendly smile slipping into something more weary.

"Fill me in on why? I thought we were fighting to restore the New Republic."

"We were. We did. But the New Republic wasn't exactly thriving when the Hosnian system fell. There's a lot of politics going on. Some people acting as impromptu representatives for their home worlds, and others are getting word that not all the First Order ships have gone down without a fight."

Finn nodded. He'd been there as the ad hoc fleet had sent ships to aid other worlds in need. "You think they'll settle into the new new Republic?"

"I don't know. I don't think they want to."

He stopped himself from saying that didn't make any sense. It made a lot of sense, actually, considering the history he'd learned from his friends after a lifetime of swallowing First Order propaganda. "So what are we going to do about it?"

The smile came back. "We are going to do what we can to keep a coalition going. Maybe we spend a generation or two with the systems all under their own rule, but we make friends and keep our allies close. When there's a power vacuum, dangerous forces rise to fill it."

Finn didn't know if Poe was quoting Leia on purpose, but that was a sentiment he'd heard her express on several occasions right before handing him another history reel to go devour. "And when they try, we'll be there?"

"That's the plan." Poe turned and went to the crate he was using as a desk for these meetings. "And actually, I was going to talk to you about that." He dug through his flimsies. "Part of the fleet included ten ships from the Crimson Company. Before they left yesterday, they made a request slash offer slash I don't know what." He found the flimsy he was looking for. "Their CEO wants to have a conversation with the Resistance."

"About what?"

"My guess is getting a good deal on their taxes under whatever new government we set up. But maybe not." He handed the flimsy to Finn, who skimmed it. Bunch of legal talk, signed right before the battle.

"I don't get why we care."

"The Crimson Company used to be Crimson Dawn, one of the biggest criminal cartels during the Empire's time. They threw in with the Alliance towards the end of the war and came out of it as a regular law-abiding business. But there were always rumors. The ships they sent us were outfitted with weapons that were illegal in every system I've heard of." His face twisted like he was eating a sourpear. "I think we have to take this meeting. Meet their CEO, see what she wants."

"And she's not coming here," Finn guessed correctly as Poe nodded. "You'll have to send someone you trust." Poe's face lit up and beamed a smile at him. "You're sending me?"

"There's no one I trust more." He clapped Finn on the shoulder.

"I don't know how to talk to corporate bigshots! Or gangsters!"

"She just wants her feet at the table when we get things set up, and she's making a power play by forcing us to come see her. I am sending my favorite General. Everyone's happy."

"I'm not happy."

His other hand found Finn's other shoulder. "You'll do fine. Just meet with her, shake her hand or kiss her knuckle, whichever she wants, and don't promise her anything. Tell her our people will talk with her people."

"How many guards am I taking?"

"You're going to have one of my best pilots at your side. He grew up on Hosnian Prime in a powerful family. He might even already know her."

"So I can let him do the talking?"

Poe's sunny expression slipped again. "Maybe not. Come on, I'll introduce you."

* * *

Ajan Kloss boasted a wonderful climate, if your idea of wonderful included humidity so high you could provide your own daily water supply by hanging up your shirt for an hour, or insects as long as Chewbacca's leg with fangs as big as his furry fist, or crawling molds that covered every square inch of anything allowed to sit overnight. Under those circumstances, it was perfect. Under any other, it was miserable, sticky, and full of things that wanted to eat you.

They approached Poe's friend as he was spinning around, flailing and slapping at an insect crawling down the neck of his shirt. With a sinking feeling, Finn recognized the guy who'd almost knocked the tent over.

"You okay there, Kaz?" Poe asked.

"Fine. I'm fine. Ow!" Kaz twisted his arm almost fully behind himself to smack at his own back and managed to hit his own head instead.

A woman, a girl really, no older than eighteen or so, said, "Hold still." He managed to stop flailing for a second while she drew back her arm and hit him hard in the back.

Kaz let out an "Oof" as a loud crunch came from beneath his shirt. "Thanks, Torra."

"No problem. Sorry about your shirt," she said, glancing at the spreading stain.

Kaz tried to turn his head all the way around to see. "Ugh."

Poe cleared his throat. "When you have time."

"Sorry, yes Commander, I mean General. Hi!" He managed a salute until Poe waved him off uncomfortably.

Finn turned to Poe with deep concern. "Him?"

"Finn, this is Kazuda Xiono. Kaz is one of the best pilots I've ever met."

Kaz lit up at the praise. "That's nice, thanks." He waved at Finn. "You're General Finn, right? Um, sir?" He went for the salute again and Finn stopped him. In the creche long ago, there had been a few toys for the cadets to play with. Finn remembered a doll whose arms and legs were attached by elastic bands, leaving the whole body wobbly and flappy. The doll had eventually fallen apart, and Finn now kept shooting glances at Kaz, hoping not to see one of his arms fly off.

"Hi."

Poe said, "Kaz, I have a mission for you. Finn is meeting with the head of the Crimson Company, and I need you to go with him."

Kaz made a face. "I've heard about them. Aren't they, you know, criminals?"

Poe shrugged. "Some people argued that the Rebellion were all criminals back in the day. General Organa," there was only a slight hitch to his voice as he said her name, "said it was all a matter of your point of view. And apparently she was friends with this person. That's good enough for me."

Another trickle of worry dripped inside Finn's head. If Poe saw this meeting as a means to honor Leia's memory, he might not be looking at all the angles. Finn would have to be very careful.

He didn't know if Kaz thought the same thing, or if he'd even noticed. He grinned widely and asked, "When do we leave?"

* * *

Finn was used to riding along with someone else at the controls. Rey and Poe could both out fly him in their sleep, and Chewbacca had been an expert pilot since long before the old Republish fell. Finn was taking lessons, and he could fly a ship without crashing it, but he had to admit, having someone else do the flying took a lot of stress off his mind.

The stress he was feeling now came from his pilot. Finn knew he'd had some difficulties assimilating into life outside the First Order. Small talk wasn't a skill he'd been taught growing up, and flirting had been completely off the table, and there were times he had trouble figuring out which was which, especially when Poe was talking. One thing he had learned what that you didn't have to say every thought that passed through your head like they seemed to in the holos. Kaz didn't seem to have gotten that lesson. He'd made observations of their takeoff, the jump into hyperspace, comments about his friends back on Ajan Kloss and his other friends back on the refueling station they used as their base, complaints on how the bite on his back still itched, and more. Finn didn't know one person could talk so much.

"So how long have you known Poe, I mean, General Dameron?"

Finn blinked, understanding suddenly that he'd been invited into Kaz's monologue. "We go way back," he said, thinking to the day he'd defected. "What about you?"

"Not long. I met him about six months before the First Order attacked the Hosnian system." There was a little catch in his voice. Part of Finn, a mean part, thought maybe that would make him go silent. But Poe had said that was where Kaz was from.

"You're from Hosnian Prime, right?"

"Yeah. Poe told you?"

"Yeah." Finn had never had a family, but most people did. "Did your family make it out?"

"They did," he said. "They were lucky."

Six months before Starkiller attacked meant Kaz had known Poe six months longer than Finn had. That felt strange. He knew Poe had loads of friends before they'd met, and he was still meeting more. Zorii seemed nice if aloof. Babu Frik was weird but all right. Finn had been introduced to a sea of faces in the last few days, old friends who'd come at last to help. Kaz was another one of those.

Kaz said, "Poe was the one who recruited me to the Resistance."

Finn wondered how to explain his own meandering path into the Resistance, and for a moment, imagined the man he'd been the day he met Poe finding out they were both Generals now. They ought to make Rey a General, too, if only to see her glare at them. A grin hit his face and stayed. "He has that effect on people."

"Yeah, he's pretty great." Kaz said the words in a kind of awe that tripped a small button in Finn's head. Poe had another effect on people, too. Finn was almost positive several of the revolving faces he'd been introduced to over the last few days had been Poe's exes. He hadn't asked any of them how they knew Poe in case the answer was, "We used to suck each other off at the Academy." There was information, and then there was too much information.

Kaz had grown uncharacteristically quiet.

Finn, wondering if he'd regret asking, said, "Something wrong?"

"Not exactly." Kaz's voice twisted up to half a question at the end of the second word. "I'm getting some unusual readings. Hey, CB," he said to his astromech. "Can you confirm what I'm seeing?"

The rolly droid whistled. Finn had finally started understanding BB-8, and it sounded to him like CB-23 agreed she saw what Kaz was seeing, whatever that was. "What kind of readings?"

"Nothing to worry about," said Kaz, sounding worried. "Just going to drop out of hyperspace for a minute."

The blue hyperfield collapsed, spitting them out into sublight surrounded by stars. CB-23 released a series of urgent beeps Finn couldn't follow. Her words would print out on Kaz's screen, which Finn couldn't see no matter how much he craned his neck. "What's wrong?"

Kaz didn't reply, his fingers flying over his panel. "Um. Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He had a tight sound in his voice that Finn didn't like. "Everything's fine, General," he added in an even tighter voice.

Finn had a panel of his own. He remembered how Rey had shown him to pull up navigation info. The tightness in Kaz's voice transferred directly to Finn's stomach. "Where are we?"

"I'm still figuring that out, uh, sir."

"Stop with the 'sir.' It's Finn."

"Right, General Finn. Sorry. I'm trying to sort out our location. CB says she can't find it on the charts."

Finn's panel wasn't more helpful. "We're lost?"

"No! We're not lost. I would not get lost with my first mission with a Resistance general," Kaz said with a very nervous laugh. "I just have to look through a few more star charts."

Finn sighed, then called up the mission briefing on his panel to review the notes Poe had given him. They were going to be late. Would this Qi'ra person take tardiness as a personal insult and have them executed? Finn had supervisors like that in the past, and he wanted to know if she was one of those before they showed up, thanks. Poe had included her official bio from the Crimson Company's official HoloNet feed, but there were amendments jotted in the additional notes, all signed with General Organa's personal code. Not just corrected details about Qi'ra's place of birth, he noticed, but also quick memos about her favorite film and snacks. They'd been friends, Poe had said.

Thinking back on some of the other faces he'd been introduced to over the last few days, he realized Leia had had a lot of friends. Now Finn was bringing the news of her death to another old friend. Poe must have known, and he wasn't the guy to shirk something he saw as a duty. He trusted Finn not to screw this up, and Finn didn't intend to disappoint him.

"Any luck on finding our bearings?" he asked.

"Almost?" There was no 'almost' in this, even Finn knew that, and he'd only had two lessons in navigation so far. Kaz didn't want to disappoint him, either. "CB, give me another reading. I think we're close to a hyperlane."

CB chirped and whistled, not sounding so sure, but a printout scrolled over Kaz's screen, which lit up his face.

"Yes! Thank you, CB!" He cleared his throat. "Sorry about all that, General. We'll be on our way shortly."

"Finn."

"General Finn, sir."

"No, just Finn. I'm not really a general," he admitted.

Kaz flipped a pair of switches. "Here we go." They blasted into hyperspace again. "Poe called you 'General' in the meeting."

"It was a field promotion. I've only been with the Resistance for a year. Before that, I was a stormtrooper." He didn't know why he was telling this guy. Finn supposed he wanted someone to talk to, and Rey was on Tatooine, and his other friends were back on Ajan Kloss.

"Yeager said the old Rebellion gave field promotions all the time. They made you a general to lead a mission, and if you didn't die on the mission, you got to keep the promotion." He chuckled to himself at a joke Finn didn't know. "You're here. You must be a general now."

"That was not how they did things in the First Order." He considered this. "But I like it. I guess I am a general."

"That's right. Forgive me if I don't salute right now."

Finn thought back to the tent, and suspected if Kaz tried to salute, he'd give himself a concussion. What did Leia always say? "At ease, soldier."

"Yes, sir."

"It's Finn."

"All right, Finn."

* * *

They chatted the rest of the journey. Kaz had already peppered him with stories about his friends, and now Finn returned the favor, telling him about some of his adventures with Rey and Poe and Rose and the rest.

"I wish we could have been there," said Kaz. "We didn't even receive General Organa's distress call until months later. I wonder how many others didn't hear it at all."

He'd wondered that himself. As they dropped out of hyperspace, this time where they belonged, he saw the jewel of a planet where the Crimson Company held their headquarters with a nicely tax-advantaged location, at least according to the notes. Had they missed the call? Or had they heard and ignored, biding their time until the Resistance put out its last gasp begging for help?

Kaz brought them in for a landing at the designated hangar. Four armed guards of four different large species met them as he gave CB-23 instructions to get their ship ready for departure.

Finn took a breath. "General Finn of the Resistance, here to meet Lady Qi'ra."

"This way," waved the tallest guard. The others took point around them. Finn had a blaster at his belt, and so did Kaz. He hoped they wouldn't need them.

Just for fun, he reached inside what he thought might be the part of him that touched the Force, and stretched out to the minds of the guards, looking for treachery. Finn wasn't actually sure what they would look like, or if he could even read minds, but the effort made him feel better.

They were led through dull corridors close to the hangar into brightly-lit and tastefully decorated corridors further in, and finally to the spacious anteroom of the executive suite. The lead guard pressed a button to announce their arrival as the three other guards peeled away to stand at the entrance.

Kaz looked around them in wide-eyed awe. "This is nice."

Finn thought the same thing, but he hadn't been about to say so. "I thought you grew up in places like this."

"Not like this. My father took me with him to the Senate a couple of times when I was a kid. That was close."

Finn hadn't been anywhere like this except maybe Canto Bight, and that had been more glitz than substance. This place reeked of money. He tried not to stare. He wondered if part of the point of bringing people this way was to get them to cower and be impressed.

From inside the inner office, he heard a cut-off scream and a thump. Finn glanced at Kaz, who seemed equally worried. The guards didn't move a muscle. Finn cleared his throat. "Should we be in there?"

"Lady Qi'ra will see you when she decides," said the tall guard.

"Right."

A minute later, the inner door opened. "Remove this," said a voice. "Then escort our guests inside."

Finn and Kaz walked closer. Two of the guards entered the room and emerged dragging a body. Finn froze. Kaz's mouth popped open. The tall guard gestured at them with his weapon. "Go."

Finn expected Kaz to say, "After you, General," but instead he stepped ahead of Finn, his hand not on his blaster but next to it. Finn followed close behind.

"Ah," said the same voice as before. It belonged to an elegantly-dressed human woman, perhaps the same age General Organa had been. Where Leia's hair had gone to a gentle gray, this woman's hair was the deep, rich dark of someone who spent quite a lot of money to look younger than she was. "Welcome, my friends. I apologize for the mess." She gestured without looking at the stain on her office carpet. At their matched expressions of concern, she tilted her mouth into a calculatedly kind smile. "One of my employees mistakenly believed he should accelerate his promotion prospects."

Gangster, Finn thought, and hoped he kept the thought off his face. He remembered his manners, at least those Poe had hurriedly walked him through before sending him here. "Lady Qi'ra, it's good to meet you. I'm General Finn." That sounded weird, and the light amusement in her eyes suggested she thought so, too.

"A pleasure."

Kaz coughed. Finn said, "This is Kaz, my," he scrambled for a good word, "adjutant."

Qi'ra nodded politely at Kaz. "The General won't need a bodyguard here, but you're welcome to stay, of course."

Finn thought back to the briefing. "We're here to thank you for the loan of the ships in the battle against the Emperor."

"It was a show of good will. I was hoping General Organa would come herself, but I imagine she's occupied with the business of setting up yet another Republic."

"No. She didn't survive the battle. I'm sorry. I know you were friends." He'd practiced the words, and they felt mechanical and dry in his mouth.

Qi'ra's eyes flickered away from them for a moment. A touch of grief, he thought, and then reconsidered. She wasn't surprised. She'd been confirming a rumor she'd already heard. "Was it Ben?" she asked, and for a moment, all the artifice dropped away. She was a woman in fading glory, and she knew Leia's worst secret.

How to answer that? Leia had died in an attempt to reach out to her useless kid, but the attempt had worked and the kid had been less useless. Rey had told them what he'd done. "No. Ben died helping our side."

Qi'ra fixed him with another long stare. Then she said in a quiet, thoughtful voice: "Good." Whatever she was considering in the back of her mind, she dismissed with a quick shake of her head. The cool, collected image settled back into place, leaving Finn to wonder if he'd seen or only imagined the change. "I'm happy to make the loan of the ships a permanent gift."

"That'd be great!" said Kaz. "Thanks!"

Poe had warned him about this, and thank the Force he had, because otherwise Finn would have said the same thing. "We appreciate the offer, but we can't accept. Your ships are being refueled and will return to you in two cycles."

"The Resistance can afford to turn away help now? That must have been an impressive showing by the other fleets."

"The Resistance is over. Our goal was to eliminate the First Order." That part was still hard to wrap his head around. 

"Which you haven't done. The leaders are dead, and many of their troops are in chaos, but so was the Empire at the end of the last war. Don't be as foolish as the last Republic and let the rest go."

"We've got this," he said. "Thanks for your help. We appreciate it, and we'll remember it when things get back to normal." That was all he'd been given to promise her. He wondered if she'd take it as an insult.

She gave him a sly and oddly kind smile. "I suppose that will have to do. Thank you, General. I look forward to the return of my ships."

There was a shout outside, and the sounds of blaster fire. Kaz pulled his blaster, aiming for the door. Finn paused before grabbing his, looking for Qi'ra's reaction. Her expression went flat. "Apparently my former employee wasn't the only one unhappy at not getting his promotion." She drew two small blasters from pockets Finn couldn't see tucked into her fine clothes. "The two of you should stand back," she said conversationally, a moment before the door blew in.

Finn swore he heard her sigh in annoyance a moment before the blaster bolts poured into the room. Kaz started firing back, and Finn joined him, reasoning that anyone who would fire upon them while they were in here with the boss was not someone who wanted her two guests taken alive. As the fire intensified, Finn found himself and Kaz separated from Lady Qi'ra, pinned down behind her expansive desk as they both fired from the little cover this offered.

"What do we do?" It took Finn a second to realize Kaz was asking him.

"Why would I know?!"

"You're the General!"

"It was a field promotion!" Finn laid down a series of blasts at the feet of the people coming in. Kaz's blasts didn't come close to them. "Where did you learn to shoot? I thought you were in the Navy!"

"I'm a pilot!"

"Poe and Rey are pilots, and they can hit the side of a Star Destroyer!"

"Poe and Rey aren't here!"

"No kidding!" Finn was annoyed. Poe had sent him with this chatty guy, and now he was going to die here with someone who couldn't shoot straight. He risked a look out, narrowly missing having his head blown off by another bolt of energy. The glance had been enough. Finn went through some quick calculations in his head. "I have a plan."

"Great!"

"On the count of three, fire at the blue vase. It's to the right of the doorway."

"Why?"

"Trust me!" said Finn. "One, two, three!" They both spun out from behind the desk. Finn aimed for the pillar to the left of the doorway. Kaz brought down the pillar to the right, several centimeters away from the blue vase. The ceiling over the doorway gave way and collapsed on their attackers.

"Woohoo!" said Kaz with a grin. "I missed the vase, but...." He lost his smile. "You knew I would miss the vase."

Finn plucked Kaz's blaster from his hands. "Yeah. Are you sure you didn't go to stormtrooper school?" Kaz made a face at him, which was probably grounds for insubordination, but Finn was too happy to be alive to care.

Movement caught his eye. One of the attackers hadn't been caught in the mess, and was aiming at them. Before Finn could react, a bright blast from another part of the room took off his head. Lady Qi'ra stepped out from an alcove, taking in the wreck of her office with a deep sigh as she put away her small weapons into their secret pockets.

"Are you all right, ma'am?" Kaz asked her.

"I'm fine." She knelt down by one of the dead men. "They're not all mine. I've been infiltrated again." She glanced up at the two of them. "Don't go into business, boys. Stick with the military. You'll live longer."

Finn could tell when he was being dismissed. As a soldier, he'd never liked it. As a General, he didn't have to take it. "Why did you invite us here?"

"I didn't," she said, rising to her feet. "I invited Leia. I thought perhaps she'd come in a few rotations, and we'd talk. Instead, her replacement sent you." She looked at the wreckage. "You can tell him he made a good decision. You think fast and you're a good shot." Qi'ra thought to herself for a moment, looking at the two of them. "Keep the ships until you've routed the last of the First Order from my galaxy, then return them. It's an extended loan."

"We can't be bought," Finn said.

"Everyone can be bought. This isn't a sale, General, not of your favors and not of your soul. I've lived through the galaxy in chaos before. I can take care of myself," she said, kicking the corpse at her feet. "But business goes so much more smoothly when there's not a war on. Send my ships back when you're finished with them, or if you insist on payment, you can purchase them on an installment plan. The two of you can even come visit again when you make up your mind."

They were still being dismissed, and this time, Finn wasn't going to argue. "Thank you," as Kaz said, "We'll be sure to."

They made their way back towards the hangar, weapons ready in case of trouble. There was none. The assault had been a single group attempting a hostile takeover. Finn thought maybe not going into business was the best idea he'd heard all day.

As they boarded, and CB-23 beeped her hello, Kaz said, "I can't believe you expected me to miss that vase."

"You did miss the vase."

"You didn't know I would! Uh, sir."

"Stop the 'sir' stuff. We talked about that." Finn sighed. He wasn't used to being in charge. Normally he was the one getting the orders, not giving them. Guess now was as good a time as any to start learning how to live on the other side of that. "I made the call that had the best chance of getting us out alive."

"By assuming I'd miss."

"You did miss!"

"I know!" Kaz sat in his chair in a huff and started the departure sequence. Finn paid attention to how he sat, how he moved, and came to a sudden conclusion.

"Are you embarrassed?"

"No! I mean. Kind of. This was my first mission with a Resistance General, and he doesn't even trust me to shoot straight. How terrible is that?"

"Not terrible. Everybody has something they're good at. Poe says you're one of the best pilots he's ever met. I can barely take a ship out. I only met Poe because I needed a pilot to fly me away from the First Order. He was a prisoner. I'd have let them execute him." The words squirmed inside him. Poe had teased him about it as soon as they'd met, and had forgiven him anything that needed forgiving just as quickly.

"That was when you were a stormtrooper?" The ship had lifted off, and was headed into the sky.

"Yeah." Might as well come clean about all of it. "That was a day or so before the attack on the Hosnian System. You've known Poe a lot longer than I have."

"Really?" CB whistled and confirmed Finn hadn't been with the Resistance back when she'd been active. "Huh. You strike me as someone who's been there forever."

"Feels like it sometimes."

"Yeah. Same here." Free of atmosphere, Kaz engaged the hyperdrive. They flew in silence for a while, each thinking his own thoughts. After a long time, Kaz said, "You feel like a fraud, don't you?"

Finn didn't have to answer that. He was a General now. He'd proven himself. "Sometimes. A lot of times. Yeah."

"Me too. General Organa was amazing, her whole life through. And Poe is such a hero. He's so good at what he does, and he makes you feel good when he tells you that you've done a good job. Then you get in there and suddenly, it's all giant monkey-lizards."

"Yeah, I.... What?"

"Never mind."

"I know what you mean." He sat back in the uncomfortable seat. "They're all heroes. General Organa was this story out of legend. Poe's, well, Poe. Rey's a Jedi. And then there's us."

"Yeah," Kaz agreed. "We're the other guys."

"You're a good pilot, though," Finn said. "I saw a holocap of some of your moves in the battle." Pretty sure that was Kaz. Almost sure.

Kaz brightened up. "You did? It was really terrifying but really cool to be in there!" Finn expected him to start babbling and keep it up for the rest of the way back. Instead, Kaz said, "You're a great shot."

"Thanks. I had a lot of practice."

"I practiced flying most of my life. Maybe that's it. General Organa and Poe and everyone are all heroes because that's who they are. Guys like us, we have to work on it every day. But that doesn't make us any worse off, it just means we're ready to try harder to get it right."

"I like that," said Finn. "Heroes on the installment plan."

* * *

Rey and Chewie beat them back by an hour. Finn made sure to get in a hug, and since Kaz was right there, he introduced him to them both.

"A real pleasure," he said, shaking Rey's hand. "I've never met a Jedi before." He was awestruck at meeting the famous Chewbacca and wanted a holosnap to remember the moment by. Everybody had different heroes, Finn supposed.

He reported back to Poe and let him know Lady Qi'ra's offer. Then he helped Rey settle in. He noticed the weirdest thing: she kept glancing over to one side and every time she did, her mouth twitched into a smile. At one point, he swore he heard her whisper, "Shut up. Not now," to thin air. He was still working out this whole Force thing. He couldn't decide if he thought she was cracking up from all the stress, or if he was cracking up too since he almost believed he saw the faintest outline in the air beside her, like a breath of a dream of smoke.

He'd have to ask her about it later.

Kaz caught up with him not long after that. "We're heading back to the Colossus. Our group has a lot of decisions to make now that the war is over."

"You know we've still got work to do."

"I know, but we have a lot of civilians on our refueling station. We have to get them somewhere to start living their lives again. But I'll be back," he said hurriedly. "I want to help you. I mean, the Resistance, I mean, whatever we are now." He reached behind himself, scratching his own back nervously. "I've got to come back anyway so you and I can go visit Lady Qi'ra again, right?"

Finn nodded. "Maybe there'll be less shooting this time."

"Maybe." He still looked nervous.

"Are you okay?"

"Doyouwanttogetdinnersometime?" Kaz asked, all in one word that Finn took a moment to translate.

"Do I? Dinner? Sure." He felt a nudge in the back of his head, the Force or possibly very delayed instincts. "Did you just ask me out?"

Kaz laughed uneasily. "No! That would be super inappropriate of me, asking a General out. Of course not." He hesitated. "Unless you'd like to, in which case, yes, I just asked you out."

"Kaz, are you coming?" The shout came from near where Kaz's own ship waited, and sounded like that woman Torra who'd swatted the insect for him earlier. CB-23 had already rolled away.

"Yeah, on my way!" he shouted back. He said to Finn, "Sorry. I didn't mean to make things weird. I'll just go."

"I'm picking the place," Finn said, not sure if this was how these things went. He'd have to ask Poe for pointers.

"You will? I mean, great!" said Kaz, beaming widely. "Okay, so, I'll see you soon?"

"See you soon."

Kaz grabbed his hand and squeezed it for a moment. Finn squeezed back on impulse, then watched him go.

He rejoined his friends. "This has been a very weird day." Poe rubbed his face and nodded, clearly tired out from all his meetings and bantha-trading. Rey gave Finn a sympathetic smile, then tilted her head and glared beside herself for a moment. Chewie said he looked like a lovestruck moongrazer, and when his head was back from the clouds, Finn needed to help him get sand out of the Falcon's intakes.

A very weird day indeed. But as he looked up, he thought he saw Kaz's ragtag squadron in the distance, and a warm happiness filled him that he liked very much. Weird, but despite the near death experience, not a bad day at all.


End file.
